Arkansas Valaint guy..... Hi, Y'all...

-
Bill Dedman

Bill Dedman

bill dedman
Legendary Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2007
Messages
3,987
Reaction score
140
Location
Conway, Arkansas
Just found this site, and it's a great one!!! Feels like coming home...

I'm an old guy who's been hot rodding a long, long time, but thee's always something new to learn.

Right now, I'm trying to learn about blow-thru supercharging. Always wanted a blown car!!!

My ride is a '72 Valiant 4-door (originally, a 318 car) with a 360 Magnum/904/8.75" setup. Mild Hughes cam, TTI headers and exhaust, AirGap intake; 750 Holley.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a Vortech blower installation, but am not quite there, yet... maybe next week...

Ran 13.35 @102 thru the mufflers on street tires with 340 manifolds and a 180-degree M-P water-heated intake. Hoping for low 12's with the blower.

Talk's cheap... we'll see.

Anyway, I'm very impressed with what I see here, both with the quality of the cars, and the website! Looks like a friendly place! Hope you don't mind an ooccasional 4-door... LOL!

I live in Conway, Arkansas, about 25 miles Northwest of Little Rock. Spent the last 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, though... Moved back here to retire.

I'll try not to get in the way...

Bill

100_3150-5.jpg
 
I really DO know how to spell "VALIANT,"
though you'd never know it by that note...

It was late.... REAL late... sorry... :sad1:

Bill
 
Welcome Bill! Nice looking ride,just what you need to take the family out for a Sunday picnic in.Really like the car.Good luck with the project.Please let us know how it runs after the newest addition.I bet a set of large tube headers would wake that combo up.Bob
 
Welcome Bill Dedman!!
Take a look around here and you will see allot of four doors
and great tec and good folks.
Glad to see another Arkansan here, I am just northeast of you a bit in Jonesboro. This has been a great site for fellow ship, tec tips and a good laugh now and then. We have the best of the best here and you will fit in nicely.
Looking forward to learn more about your nice 72 Valiant.:thumbup:
I don't ever think you can get in the way so jump on in and enjoy.:coffee2:
 
Wecome. My jrs car seat busted the headlinner in our 1st Barracuda so I'll never bad mouth a more door. My current daily driver is a 73 4 door Valaint. Have fun
 
Welcome Bill...

Great place to hang out and learn. You dont live too far from dad..in Hot Springs. I was born in Danville and raised in Plainview until we moved to Ca.(Visalia) in 74..and I have been stuck ever since.
Enjoy and welcome to the site..

Rick
 
I'm REALLY appreciative of all the nice welcome notes from you guys, but am very pressed for time at the moment; will write more later tonight.

Just wanted to say "thanks" for the warm welcome!!!
TTYL,
Bill
 
I am a big fan of A-Bodies for a good reason. Back in 1972, I was looking for a car to buy to take on vacation. I lived in Des Moines, Iowa and wanted to take a driving vacation to California because I'd never been there.

To be honest, I was looking for a '64-'65 Chevy II with a V8 in it, a rarity those days.... Got tired of looking, but spied a pristine '64 Valiant (see, I spelled it correctly!!!) V-200, 2-door sedan (post.) It had a 2-bbl 273 and 3-on-the-tree. The paint was new, and the aqua-blue interior spotless, so I decided that it would "do" for my vacation car.

To make a very long story short (a story involving such diverse subjects as the newly-instituted 55-mph speed limit, and a contentious co-worker who had a '69 383/727 Super Bee), said Valiant ended up not becoming the hi-way cruiser I'd intended, but instead, became the recipient of the engine and entire drivetrain from a rolled-over, (totalled) '71 Demon 340 4-speed car with a 3.91 Sure Grip 8.75.... with 13,000 miles on the clock (remember, this was in 1972.) $500.00 for the entire lot... (Don't cringe; that's $2,460.53 in 2007 dollars.)

This co-worker needed some convincing that 340s weren't just cannon-fodder for his 383 B-body, so we had our little matchup; the next time I saw him (a week or so later), he'd bought a '70 Challenger 440 4-speed car and wanted to race, again. What he didn't know was that I'd swapped the stock 340 cam for a Lunati Stock Eliminator "Riddler" cam, and some new valve springs.

I obliged him again, with the same result...

A week later, I'd found a guy who had a 440 in a '62 Savoy who was having trouble hooking it up with the 4.56 Sure Grip that was in it. I swapped him "straight across" for my 3.91. I borrowed a set of 29"-tall slicks and got them mounted, and was all set to run the 440 again. He had put a 3310 Holley 4bbl on his car, and added headers. Took it to a dyno-tune shop to dial-in the carb.

I couldn't get the slicks on my car (hit the fender opening in front), but I beat him again, anyway.

Last ditch effort from this guy saw him buying a set of slicks...

When I found out about that, I HAD to get the slicks on my Valiant, so I took the BFH and enlarged the fender opening so that I had about half-an-inch of clearance.

That little ol' Valiant LIKED those slicks with the 4.56!!! I had installed a 3,000# Hayes pressure plate, and side-stepping it at 4 grand on that concrete (Interstate 35) gave me just enough wheel-spin to keep it above 3,500, where the power band started with that cam.

We had our last race...

The next time I saw that guy, he was driving a brand new VW Beetle!!! No kidding...

I don't know how quick that Valiant was, but I had a friend who was an NHRA Class racer with a C/SA '68 Mustang 428-CJ, and he drove my car on the street one day (with the slicks and the 4.56 gear) and said he thought it would outrun his Mustang. That Mustang ran 12.80s...

So, maybe it would run high 12's... I had a total of $1,500.00 in the whole car...

It is the only car I ever owned that never got outrun. There were LOTS of cars around that would outrun it, but I just never happened across one.

You gotta love a car that never lets you down... :)

Oh; I forgot to say that when I dropped the engine in, the cast 340 exhaust manifolds hit the inner fender panels on BOTH SIDES, so I had to put headers on it... Hedman 1 5/8" fender-well headers, on sale at Couch Automotive in Des Moines.... $35.00 the pair...

Sorry; that was supposed to be short. Oh well... my apologies.

Anyway, that car made me an A-Body fan forever...

Bill
 
Some good memories fore sure.:thumbup:
Here is one I let get away to build a cottage about two years ago

63g resized.jpg
 
I hope that last "book" I wrote doesn't sound like bragging; I was just astounded that his 440 didn't just chew my 340 up and spit it out!

But, it didn't...

I've been a fan of small blocks ever since, but the big blocks are definitely in a class by themselves, when properly built.

Mike, too bad that '63 got away; that was a car with TONS of potential.... but, I understand; HOUSING really IS important!!! :sad1:

That '69 Valiant 360 is one cool ride... I had a '69 2-door /6 car back in 1979, and had plans for it, but moved to California and needed some extra cash, so I had to sell it. Bad move... Those are great-looking cars! And LIGHT!!! :)

Bill
 
Well, that wasn't the original idea....
Seriously, it didn't start out that way, but that's how it ended up....:

Only wanted a daily driver that would run low 13's, but those damned LS-1's kept moving the target... Now, I'm gonna eventually end up with an H-beam rod/forged piston short-block and some decent O-Ringed heads, so I can mount this other (additional) Vortech blower I have (I call it the "bad idea that won't go away!") for some REAL boost...

Stay tuned... LOL!

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
PS Jim, that is one GORGEOUS '69 Signet!!! If my car looked THAT GOOD (no chance!!), I wouldn't care if it ran nineteen-flat! Nice job!
 
Well you go get Bill, run'em down damn it! He he he.
 
Can you say ATTRACTIVE sleeper with groceries on the back seat.
I hear four doors are not unpopular in Austraila.
My son doesn't have the prejudice against them that us old guys might either.
All in ones' persective.

Hi Bill,
You moved BACK to Conway from SFO????
Well, I guess the cost of living drove you out being retired and all.
I brought my mother back from Conway last year after my sister passed away out there.
It's a small world, uh.
You probably know my ex-brother in law.
I was just looking at your how-to on the engine swap.
Looks like you will be a big asset to the board.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top